MFA Spotlight

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Last Updated: Dec 23, 2025, 02:16 PM

Media Arts MFA III student Saba Raissian in her studio.

Media Arts MFA III student Saba Raissian in her studio.

 

Shruti Rao

Shruti Rao
MFA III
International residency with the Katkatha Puppet Incubation Lab, New Delhi, India.

Shruti will be developing several experimental live performances and moving-image works using puppetry techniques, as part of a broader project exploring the shifting landscape of contemporary intimacy culture that has been shaped by internet-enabled technologies. The occasion for Shruti to undertake an international residency is a rare opportunity that aligns with the completion of her MFA. The Katkatha Puppet Incubation Lab is an intensive two-week program designed to nurture emerging puppeteers through mentorship and immersive training. Additional support by SIU’s Graduate Student Professional Development fund, the Goethe-Institut Delhi, and India Foundation for the Arts. January 5–20, in New Delhi, India.

Leah Sutton

Leah Sutton
MFA 2025

Leah is currently a Professor of Digital Media at Greenville University, where she teaches animation and media courses. Leah brings her talents as a photographer, book-maker, and installation-based artist to many of the classes she designs and teaches. She also teaches adult courses in introduction to drawing for the Highland Arts Council. In 2025, she presented work titled "Artists’ Book Anthology: The Collection and Curation of Visual Poetics” at the College Book Arts Association National Conference. Also in 2025, her work has been exhibited at the Electronic Currents Exhibition at Gallery 130 in Oxford, Mississippi and in the Gimme More: The Eras of American Consumption Show at the Carolla Arts Exhibition Center in Springfield, Missouri. In the spring of 2026, she will be serving as a panel chair at the Mid-America College Art Association Conference for “Roundtable Discussion: Fostering Interdisciplinarity in the Classroom through Creative Collaboration.” Sutton is currently working on pieces for a solo exhibition that will be installed at Kishwaukee College Art Gallery in 2027 titled "Petrified Light."

Jordan Bargett

Jordan Faye Bardgett
MFA 2025

Jordan accredits her time in the School of Media Arts MFA program with having expanded the medium of her work into the realms of audio and performance. In her works, Jordan utilizes photography, sound, glitch, and performance to explore various themes surrounding transgender identity and childhood memory. Her work often utilizes elements of data manipulation as well as the use of personal archival elements.  Jordan is currently working as an Adjunct Studio Arts Instructor at the Art Academy of Cincinnati where they teach digital photography. They’ve also had work showcased internationally, including her experimental short film, Transist, which screened in London, England at the Fringe Queer Film & Arts Festival. Jordan (they/she) is based out of Cincinnati, OH.